ART AWARENESS IN MONGOLIA

From what I have learned and observed, the art awareness among young population of Mongolia is very low. We are in the Mongolian modern culture where only few performance art forms are considered popular comedy shows, movies, concerts, and drama.

Many comedy shows are worthless, as they repeat each other and play on irony of poverty and social disorders, such as rich vs. poor, mistress vs. wife, etc. Boring!

One decent movie theatre is Tengis, the place where many young people spend their free time, as there is no other “non-alcoholic and non-smoking” place to be found in UB. Movies shown at Tengis are 60-80 percent is Korean movies, as it is owned by Koreans.

Acceptable concerts of bands and artists are performed sporadically. Most concerts are of folk or “country” artists, where mostly old and “new” UB residents attend.

Notably, in last few years performance of drama have increased, which is a good sign. The last one that I have seen is “Midnight Dance,” which was good modern tragedy piece.

I love art and everything related to it. I like going to galleries and just freeze in time in space filled with drawings, portraits, and depiction of everything. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there are less than ten art galleries in UB and most of them are more into commercial sphere than art promoters.

1. Mongolian Artists Exhibition Hall (http://www.uma.mn)

2. Mongolian National Modern Gallery

3. The Zanabazar Museum of Fine Art

4. Valiant Art Gallery (http://www.mongolianartgallery.com)

5. Asian Art Antique Gallery (http://www.mongolianantique.com)

6. Xanadu Art Gallery

7. Chinggis Art Gallery

8. Red Ger Gallery

Source:

http://www.legendtour.ru/eng/mongolia/ulaanbaatar/ulaanbaatar_art_galleries.shtml

http://mongolianartist.com/galleriesall.cfm

In first three galleries, I have been several times, and even though the exhibition changes, the environment is kept at poor condition. The space is too small and crowded, and lighting is bad in these places. I believe in more commercial galleries the environment is totally different.

Opera and ballet are staged very rarely and not advertised properly to attract the general public.

I wanted to attend any classical concerts or performances in classical nature. However, could not find any in last two week.

How can you be art aware, when there is limited environment and space to enjoy art? Is there any official course or subjects taught in public schools that teaches children about art or art history? Well, do not tell me “Music” lesson is acceptable. As far as I remember, this was the lesson to teach the musical notation and assess your ability to sing. If you could not sing, you would pass the class with B or C grade. Any possibility to raise the art awareness?

Note: Above is my opinion and observation only and does not reflect any specific research.